Fun Camping Recipes for Kids

Hobo Stew – Tin Foil Camping Meal – another fun and easy camping recipe for kids that they can make themselves, with just a little adult supervision. And this one is so easy the kids will want to do it on every camping trip.

Best of all, this tin foil camping meal just needs some campfire coals to cook.

The concept:The Hobo stew foil dinner is just some basic meat and veggie ingredients cooked together in a foil pouch, and then eaten from the same pouch when done. No- muss. No fuss. And no extra plates or camping cookware to clean-up.

Just watch the fun as the kids add their own ingredients and create their own hobo meal, and then lay their tin foil dinners in the coals to cook.

This campfire meal is intended to be cooked right in medium campfire coals, but it can also be cooked on a campfire grate or BBQ grill, or even in a skillet on a camp stove.

Hobo Tin Foil Stew

Here is all you need:

Heavy-duty aluminum foil

A permanent marker

A head of cabbage

Lipton Onion Soup Mix

Hamburger (or diced chicken, or beef cubes)

Diced or sliced potatoes

Frozen peas and frozen corn

Butter or margarine

Salt & Pepper

Note: This campfire recipe and video, (below), are from Phoenix Boy Scout Troop 109, and is designed to be as easy as possible by using frozen veggies.

Notes:

The cabbage works great, and does not add any noticeable flavor, but orange, lemon, or onion slices can be used instead if desired. They keep the food from burning on the bottom, and the meal does not need to be completely enclosed by cabbage as shown in the video.

If you are going to let the kids do it all themselves, prepping the hamburger/Lipton soup mix at home makes things a lot easier. Allow one-third to one-half pound of hamburger per kid, mix the appropriate size batch, then divide into separate qt.-size ZipLocs for each kid.

Use one Lipton Onion Soup mix packet per pound of hamburger

You can skip creating the foil handles if you want – just make sure to pleat-fold the foil ends so they seal in the juices

The recipe ingredients: (per camper)

one-third to one-half pound of hamburger

one cup frozen diced potatoes

one-third to one-half cup frozen peas

one-third to one-half cup frozen corn

two tablespoons margarine or butter *video does not show this, but the ingredients should be topped off with the butter/margarine before wrapping

salt and pepper to taste

Camping gear and cookware needed:

1/3, 1/2, and 1-cup measuring cups

even easier – just let the kids use a large serving spoon – forget the measuring cups, precise ingredient quantities are not critical to this camping recipe

one pair of tongs

in case any of the foil handles separate

If you will not be using campfire coals or BBQ grill, this recipe can use a camp stove and heavy skillet

Tip:
A good pair of campfire gloves is almost a must-have for campfire and tin-foil cooking.
Here is a guide to some good choices for campfire cooking gloves.

The basic steps for the adults:

Depending on the age of your campers, it may be easiest if you tear off the foil pieces for each kid. They will need two pieces approx. 18″ and one piece approx. 24″

Layout all the ingredients – buffet-style.

Turn the kids loose – with instructions, and a watchful eye.

Note: For young campers, (under 10 years-old, or so), lead by example. You make a hobo foil packet too, and let them follow your example, step-by-step

Cooking instructions:

Have each kid write their name on their hobo meal.

Set each meal right in the hot coals – with the foil handle up, and cook for approx. 30 minutes

Meals do not have to be turned – because they are sealed, everything will through without turning

Tips: The cooked food in the foil packs will be very hot and full of steam - a potential burn hazard for kids young and old. Insist that the foil meals be put on a plate and allowed to “rest” two or three minutes before opening.

This is only one example of a quick and easy foil pack meal that kids can do themselves. There are dozens and dozens of other ingredient variations – from simple meat and potatoes like this, to gourmet fish and fancy vegetables concoctions. So from kids, to discriminating adults, foil pack meals are a great camp meal option.

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Available as an all-in-one kit – Just click the image on the right to see a complete all-in-one Camping activities for Kids and camp games for kids Bad Weather Survival kit” – All you have to do is select the item quantities to match your number of kids!

Here are a few items and resources that may prove helpful:

Pie Irons for Campfire CookingIf you go camping with kids, you should have at least one Pie Iron, (preferably one for each kid), in your camping cookware. They are versatile – you can make anything from grilled cheese sandwiches to instant fruit pies. And they are so safe and easy to use that you can let your young campers make their own fun camping recipes for kids.

Just pop in the ingredients, close, cook over the campfire, and out comes delicious sandwiches, or biscuit-dough fruit tarts, or dozens of other camp food choices.

A Boy Scout Handbook is one of the most helpful pieces of general camping gear you can have. It’s a great source for camping ideas, tips, and activities for your young campers.

It contains easy to understand answers and how-to’s for almost any camping question. Plus, it contains plant and foliage identifications, campsite activity suggestions, survival tips, and detailed primary first aid instructions.

Check out these great examples of camping gear items useful for camping with kids. Once you have these pieces of camp gear included in your list of camping equipment, you will wonder how you ever did without them. Especially when you see how inexpensive they are when you buy them online.